Amadeus Capital Partners, the European technology investor and R Capital Management, the European growth equity firm sponsored by Rothschild, today announced their investment with the Italian private equity firm Montezemolo & Partners, in the spin out of Octo Telematics from Italian conglomerate, MetaSystem, who have funded and will continue to supply components to Octo. This international syndicate brings together an extensive global presence, a highly valuable industry network, and a deep expertise in the mobile technology segment, in particular as applied to the telematics sector. 

Octo is a pioneering European telematics service business, working with automotive manufacturers and suppliers, insurance companies and direct subscribers. Headquartered in Rome, the company was founded in 2002 by Fabio Sbianchi, the CEO, and Giuseppe Zuco, CTO, and is a fast-growing and profitable business with turnover close to €50m and EBIT of €16m in 2009.

Automotive telematics began in the 1980s with the first tracking systems for stolen vehicles. Since then, mobile networks have enabled online connectivity with two-way communication, while GPS technology has allowed high-accuracy satellite positioning to be integrated into virtually any device.

Today a standard telematics on-board unit in a car features wireless connectivity coupled with GPS-enabled location, often with an interface to the electronics systems of the vehicle. These devices can deliver value to consumers in the form of improved driver and vehicle safety and convenience, reduced accident and insurance costs and fraud prevention. They will also be used in road charging and congestion systems.

Octo provides a series of unique services based on their on-board units and sophisticated data centres, which collect multiple data for vehicle owners and insurance customers.

The company counts 29 European insurance companies as its customers, including the largest groups in Europe (Octo has led the market in enabling insurance companies to offer premiums directly linked to drivers’ risk characteristics). The company is also the main source of real-time traffic information for services such as InfoBlue in Italy and, according to Bengt Insight, supplies almost a million drivers worldwide with telematics units embedded in their cars.

Commenting on the investment, Amadeus Partner Andrea Traversone says: “The declining cost of wireless modules and mobile data will significantly increase the adoption of telematics services by both enterprises and consumers.”

“We believe that Octo has a first mover advantage in this sector and has the potential to become a world leader in infrastructure service provision for multiple automotive telematics services and applications.” adds R Capital Management Managing Partner Jean-Michel Beghin.

Advisers on the investment were, for the investors: Shearman and Sterling and McDermott, Will & Emery and for MetaSystem: Rothschild, and Banca IMI. 

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For further information, please contact:

Chantal Ligertwood, PR for Amadeus, +44 (0)7976 229 210 chantal@ligertwood.net

Kiko Duffy, SPARK Ventures, +44 (0)207 851 7707 kiko@sparkventures.com

Mark Caroe, Eden Ventures, +44 (0)1225 472 950